Roger Rabbit
Roger Rabbit is the main character in Disney's (Touchstone's) 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the short films and comics spun off from it. He is the titular anthropomorphic rabbit of the film, a frantic over-anxious type who often stutters (even while he's screaming). He was voiced by Charles Fleischer. Roger is hyperactive, friendly, talkative, and not very bright at times. Personality In the film, the voice of Roger is performed by Charles Fleischer, who was known for electing to wear an actual rabbit costume on the set to get into the role. One of his famous traits is his voice, "P-b-b-b-b-bleeeease!". He is a white clownish rabbit with a gap between his front teeth, a voice that resonates of Huntz Hall in "The Bowery Boys", a blue Porky Pig-like bowtie with yellow polka dots, a Droopy-like hair, a Bugs Bunny-like head with blue eyes, a pink nose and round-tipped ears, red Oswald-like pants with a green patch behind and Mickey Mouse-like gloves (yellow ones). Roger does not take well to alcoholic beverages; it is shown twice in the film that when he has consumed one, he changes color rapidly, at least one of his eyes swells, his head spins and he mumbles incoherently at a fast pace, before stretching up into the air and whistling like a steam train at a loud enough tone to shatter glass, all the while spinning around. Afterwards, his mood swings violently. Appearances Who Framed Roger Rabbit In the film version, he is re-envisioned as a 1940's character in animated cartoons and a resident of the fictional Los Angeles enclave Toontown. He is framed for a murder of Toontown keeper Marvin Acme and seeks out Eddie to help clear his name. Mickey's 60th Birthday Roger notably played a significant role in the 1988 NBC special Mickey's 60th Birthday. At the beginning of the special, during the taping of Mickey's birthday show, he is told to bring Mickey's cake to him, but in the process, he mistakes a stick of dynamite for a candle and puts it on the cake. Upon noticing his mistake, he attempts to snuff out the dynamite, but fails. Due to the resulting explosion, Mickey uses Yen Sid's magic to fix the place up and then shows off some more magic to his audience, only to disappear and have the sorcerer cast his spell on him. At the end of the special, after the curse is lifted, Roger Rabbit finds Mickey right outside Disneyland, and is hailed as a hero for finding him. The shorts Roger Rabbit's Toontown Roger also starred in a comic book series from April 1990 to September 1991 and a spin-off series called Roger Rabbit's Toontown, published from June to October 1991, which featured Roger in the first story and supporting characters like Jessica Rabbit (Roger's voluptuous humanoid wife), Baby Herman (his co-star in Maroon Cartoons), Benny the Cab (Roger's taxicab friend), and The Weasels (Roger's enemies). Disney Parks Roger is a popular character at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, both of which contain identical versions of the Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin attraction, which opened in 1994 in a new Toon Town section of the park, inspired by the Who Framed Roger Rabbit film and included shops, character houses, and rides. As part of the ride queue, passengers walk through the dark streets of Toon Town and see the shadows of Jessica and the Weasels walk by windows and hear their plot to kidnap her. On this entirely dark-light ride, you board Lenny the Cab, Benny’s cousin, and race through streets, back alleys, and buildings. Roger made frequent appearances as a walk-around character at the Disney theme parks in the years that followed the release of the film. He appeared prominently in the Disney Sing-Along Songs video Disneyland Fun, in which he is first shown helping Mickey and friends get Disneyland ready for its guests that day and singing "Whistle While You Work" along with them. Later in the video, he and Chip 'n' Dale bring a group of kids on some of the park's thrill rides. Roger could also be seen on the riverboat at the end of Fantasmic! in the early years of its performances. To date, Roger still appears at Tokyo Disneyland as a meetable character. However, he's hardly heard of at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. Legacy Roger made his footprints and handprints with his signature phrase "P-p-p-p-lease" in front of the Chinese theatre at Disney's Hollywood Studios on its opening day along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy. Roger is also the inspiration for a popular dance move in the early 1990s, called "the Roger Rabbit" due to the floppy movements of the character. Disney and Amblin Entertainment attempted to resurrect Roger for a sequel, one of the storylines being a prequel set in World War II that would also feature Roger's search for his parents, with his father being revealed to be Bugs Bunny. However, a preliminary budget was deemed too large and the film never got past the script stage. Several 3D CGI tests and a 3D CGI rendering of Roger were completed, however, despite the fact that no actual footage was actually shot or completed. However, Frank Marshall, the producer of the first film, told MTV in late 2007 that he would be open to any plans to bring the Roger sequel back in the works. Trivia * The character first appeared in the book, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf, which was adapted into the 1988 Academy-Award winning film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Mixing both live action and animation to create a believable "tooniverse", Disney studios set up an animation studio in Camden Town, London, whilst the live action was shot at Elstree film studios. Both the animation and live-action were then composited by ILM fx studios in LA. In the book, Roger is a sidekick in a popular comic strip called "Baby Herman", his murder is being investigated by a detective named Eddie Valiant and a slowly evaporating stunt doppelganger of himself that he created hours before being shot. * In the film, Roger briefly mentions at one point that Thumper is his uncle. Gallery External links * Disney's HooZoo - Roger Rabbit * Roger Rabbit at Disney Character Central es:Roger Rabbit Category:Who Framed Roger Rabbit Characters Category:Characters in Disney parks Category:Toons Category:Rabbits Category:Disney characters Category:Males Category:Living characters Category:Singing Characters Category:Comedy Characters Category:Characters Category:Actors Category:Disney Sidekicks Category:Heroes Category:Lovers Category:Anthropomorphic characters Category:Fantasmic characters Category:Idiots Category:Disney on Ice characters Category:Characters in video games